It is known that individuals having a sedentary lifestyle, lacking in exercise, have more health problems than active individuals. One result of a sedentary lifestyle is that the size of the heart's main chambers can decrease. This is also occurs as an effect of prolonged hypertension that increases the muscle thickness at the cost of the chamber size. A decrease in cardiac chamber volumes reduces the stroke volume which has implications on the generation of cardiac output by the heart. This limitation in cardiac output greatly reduces the ability to exercise.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is now the most frequent cause of heart failure. HFpEF is frequently associated with hypertension (HTN), concentric left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), a reduced LV chamber size and increased left ventricular stiffness. Impaired LV filling and small chamber size reduce the functional capacity through a limitation of cardiac output reserve. There is no rational treatment for HFpEF.